THE STORY OF JESUS: Mark 1:21-28
“‘Be quiet!’ said Jesus sternly. ‘Come out of him!'” (Mark 1:25)
When is the last time you dealt with an ‘impure spirit’?
Depending on what you think it is, you may not think you have.
Let me assure you, you have… and so have I… and all people!
Most of our ideas about spirits and demons are caricatures, false images.
All we know about spirits is that they are an invisible presence or being.
There are good spirits (angels), and there are impure spirits (demons).
The word ‘angel’ actually means ‘messenger’, one that brings a message.
Originally all angels were messengers of goodness, but some became deceivers.
An impure spirit is a messenger of darkness, temptation, deception, confusion.
When is the last time you dealt with a false message like this in your head?
This demon uses its message to scare the people away from Jesus.
But Jesus silences the lying spirit; this is what we need to do too!
We tend to be too passive with our negative thoughts; we need to silence them!
Next time you have a confusing, negative or tempting thought, tell it to ‘be quiet!’
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, help me to be more aggressive with my dark, confusing, negative, impure thoughts. You have beaten the Deceiver; help me to resist him too, so that he will flee from me.